In a traditional cellular deployment, suitable powered macrocells are being deployed to cover sufficiently large areas to provide cellular network. However, with the deployment of macrocells only, it generally suffers with quick capacity degradation with the increase in number of user equipments operating in the macrocells coverage areas. As a result, telecom operators are placing one or more wireless access points (i.e. small cells) to provide Wi-Fi network at multiple strategic locations points along with the macrocells deployment to serve large number of user equipments operating in that particular location/area. This kind of network is generally termed as heterogeneous network (referred hereinafter as HetNet).
In the current scenario and with the advancement in the Wi-Fi technology, almost all available user equipments with cellular capability have now Wi-Fi capability to connect with the Wi-Fi network operating in either of the unlicensed frequency bands, 2.4 GHz, or 5 GHz. For the typical HetNet, strategic locations/areas for such small cells generally include areas with high density of user equipments such as shopping malls, airports, railway/bus stations, colleges, etc. Further, these locations might include area with dead-spots or areas with macrocells having low signal strength such as indoor establishments or peripheral locations of the macro coverage area. Therefore, the usage of such HetNet provides better network coverage and provides the increased data capacity that enhance the overall user's mobile broadband experience. Moreover, these HetNets are used by the user to avail services; one such service is a voice-over Wi-Fi (referred hereinafter as VoWiFi). The VoWiFi service is a complementary technology to voice-over long term evolution that utilizes internet-protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem technology to provide a packet-based voice service that is delivered to the user via the Wi-Fi network.
Currently, for availing the VoWiFi service, the user equipments access trusted Wi-Fi access points or an untrusted Wi-Fi access points. The trusted Wi-Fi access points are assumed to be an operator-built Wi-Fi access implementing encryption and using a secure authentication method. On the other hand, the untrusted Wi-Fi access points are considered to be an open and unsecured network as the cellular operators has no control over such access points. The untrusted Wi-Fi access points includes public hotspots, user's home Wi-Fi, a corporate Wi-Fi and any Wi-Fi access that does not provide sufficient security mechanisms such as authentication and encryption.
While the user equipments avail the VoWiFi service through any of the trusted Wi-Fi access points and the untrusted Wi-Fi access points, the cellular operator has obligation of lawful interception, wherein the operator has necessary obligation to provide real-time location of the user equipments within a telecom circle availing the VoWiFi service in any location. However, in current scenario, the cellular operators have only knowledge of public IP and port locations of the user equipments connected to the wireless access points, thereby making it difficult for the cellular operators to trace and block the user equipments in a particular circle in real time basis. Further challenge in the current scenario is to determine real-time location of the user equipments availing the VoWiFi service in national roaming or in an entire circle, wherein the users of the user equipments may be present in any location and cannot be barred only on the basis of the public IP and port location of the user equipments and thus, making difficult to restrict the VoWiFi users.
Therefore, in view of the above shortcomings in the existing approaches, there is a need in the art to efficiently and effectively determining real-time location of the user equipments and block/restrict the user equipments availing the VoWiFi service in the particular location/area or the entire circle.